Letter to the editor: Your subsidies and my subsidies

A United Airlines jet departs in view of the air traffic control tower at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Tuesday, April 23, 2013, in Seattle. A day after flight delays plagued much of the U.S., air travel is smoother Tuesday. But the government is warning passengers that the situation can change by the hour as it runs the nation's air traffic control system with a smaller staff. Airlines and members of Congress urged the Federal Aviation Administration to find other ways to make mandatory budget cuts besides furloughing controllers.

The airlines and their pilots are whining and filing lawsuits over the loss of part of their public subsidy, as Congress has cut the FAA's budget along with every other federal program. The cuts have meant reductions in staffing in the air traffic control system.

Here's an idea: Instead of crying and filing frivolous lawsuits, let the airlines and other system users pay the full cost of the air traffic control system. Better to pass along the cost to aviation users rather than force all taxpayers to subsidize the system. The sequestration cuts make it perfectly clear that the airlines don't pay their own way. They receive subsidies from taxpayers.

After all, when rail passenger advocates propose new services, the standard tea party response is: "If it's such a good idea, why doesn't the private sector do it?" Well, the same logic applies to the air traffic control system. If the airlines need it so badly, let the private sector pay for it. Better still, privatize the whole thing and get it completely out of taxpayers' hands.

Obviously, I realize that this will never happen. The entrenched political forces are too strong. But it points out the hypocrisy of those who oppose passenger rail service in Iowa and elsewhere. Their attitude is, "My subsidy (airlines) is good and necessary. Your subsidy (rail) is bad and wasteful."

Hypocrisy, plain and simple.

- Alan Kline, Des Moines

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Letter to the editor: Your subsidies and my subsidies

The airlines and their pilots are whining and filing lawsuits over the loss of part of their public subsidy, as Congress has cut the FAA's budget along with every other federal program.